The concept of the barcode — an alphabet made up of thick and thin bars — came into being in the 1950s. It took another quarter of a century for one to be printed on product packaging and scanned.

WATCH: Each full scan covers more than 36,000 square feet in less than an hour.

Two Indianapolis-area logistics companies are deploying a tool developed largely for outdoor uses to help them keep track of inventory inside giant warehouses. Greenfield-based Progressive Logistics ...